In the production assembly of aircraft, the outer skin may be joined to fuselage frames, wing spars and ribs using a variety of fasteners. The fasteners may be of differing types, with variations in diameters and grip lengths. These fasteners may be installed using semi-automated equipment that may include one or more tools mounted on a base. The base may be mounted for movement over the outer skin to different positions where fasteners are to be installed. The equipment described above may install fasteners in either longitudinal or radial joints, under computer control. Some of the subsystems of this equipment are positioned on the factory floor, away from the base and are connected to tools and drives on the base by hoses and/or wire bundles. For example, computer controls, electromechanical valves, pneumatic logic, power supplies and a supply of fasteners are typically located on the factory floor and are connected to the machine base using the hoses and wire bundles mentioned above.
The use of hoses and wire bundles to connect the fastener installation equipment to off-board subsystems results in a relatively complex system, may require frequent equipment maintenance and displaces factory floor space. Moreover, feeding fasteners from an off-board supply of fasteners through hoses can result in misfeeds, in which fasteners become clogged in the hoses, prompting the need for intervention by factory personnel and resulting accompanying production downtime.
Accordingly, there is a need for a fastener installation apparatus which obviates the problems mentioned above and integrates all of the systems and sub-systems onboard that are needed to allow the apparatus to function autonomously, without connections to sub-systems on the factory floor. The illustrated embodiments of the disclosure are directed towards satisfying this need.